A computer, or host, connects to a network through an adapter that parses, or separates, each packet received over the network. The adapter may be known as a host Ethernet adapter (HEA). A Internet protocol (IP) packet is composed of an Internet protocol (IP) header and some data. A calculation called a “checksum” is performed on each packet in order to check its integrity, i.e. to make sure the packet has not changed during transmission. The checksum calculated on TCP/UDP packets is referred to as an “Internet Checksum”.
The host performs the checksum computation, which is processor and time intensive. In order to decrease the computing load on the host, the checksum computation could be moved to the adapter. However, the number of protocols the adapter would need to have very precise knowledge of makes this impractical.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for computing a blind checksum in a host Ethernet adapter (HEA). The present invention addresses such a need.